Love Conquers All
by mysticgirl101
Summary: Hi this is just something i threw together quickly, one evening after watching Merlin, it just sprang to mind. it is about how i think things should be in the future. How sometimes a bedtime story isnt always just a bedtime story. If asked will write more chapters, have got some ideas. Do Not own Merlin. Please Review


King Arthur Pendragon moved down the corridors of Camelot castle as always flanked by the ever faithful Merlin, always on his heels. As he passed guards stood up straighter at their posts and muttered "sire" , something he was not too keen on or used too even though he had been king for 15 years now.

Time really had flown since his father had died and he had been crowned, it had taken him a couple of years to settle everything down and establish his authority again, but now everything was fine and he was happy with life, very happy.

He had been delighted when after a year of marriage Gwen had told him that she was pregnant and that she would be giving him an heir to the throne, he had been with her as much as possible throughout the whole pregnancy, determined to do what he could for her and when he was not he left Merlin with her, whom he trusted, though he hadn't been 100% certain at the time whether it was a good idea.

After nine agonizingly long months they had been rewarded with the safe birth of their first born child, a son, the birth had been long and painful for Gwen and Arthur had felt guilty for putting her through so much pain, but when he had seen the delight on her face and seen his new born son for the first time, he had known that it had been worth it. They had named their son Amhar Uther, he looked like his father, tall and strong, except he had his mother's very dark curls, he was exactly like his father they had all decided, brash and full of energy, he kept the knights on their toes

When Amhar had been three, Gwen found out that she was with child once again, it had been another son, they had named him Tomas Gwydre after Gwen's father, he had his mother's darkened skin, dark blond hair and chocolate eyes, unlike his brother he was quieter, more gentle, he was like his mother, and spent a lot of time reading, he had a hunger for knowledge, and always wanted to learn, he loved to hang out with Gaius and the physician was happy to teach him whatever he wanted.

Shaking himself back into reality Arthur stopped outside the door to his destination and with a small smile pushed the door open and entered, the guards fell back but Merlin followed him into the room. The room was furnished similarly to his own with fine furniture and soft sheets, but there were wooden toys scattered around the floor and a rocking chair by the window, his beautiful wife of 16 years was standing by the dressing table, she turned when she heard him enter and smiled at him gently, the smile that he loved and carried with him always in his memories, her eyes sparked gently at him before she looked back down and he followed her gaze.

Gwen was standing next to a chair in front of the table at which sat a little girl of 6 years of age, she was resting her head in her hands which rested on the table, she looked grumpy and bored, she hated sitting still.

When Gwen had told him she had been with child for the third time he had been delighted, neither of them had wanted to admit it but they were both secretly hoping for a girl, then a week before his birthday, she had given him the most perfect present when she had given birth so a tiny baby girl, almost a month early, Arthur had nearly had a heart attack when he had heard Gwen had gone into labour early, he had panicked and rushed to her side, he hadn't left, neither had Merlin or Gaius for the many long hours it had taken for their tiny daughter to come out wailing loudly as she did so, she had half frightened them to death coming early, but the moment they had first held her in their arms, she had won them over, and she had had them wrapped around her little finger ever since

They had named her Cassandra Ygraine, Cassandra was a name that they had both liked and Ygraine was after his mother who had died in childbirth. They called her Cassie for short and she was their sweetheart, when she was born Amhar had been 9 and Tomas 6, now she was six and Amhar was 15 learning the ways ready to become king, and Tomas was always studying at the age of 12, she adored her brothers, she loved to annoy them, and they couldn't stay made at her forever, one look and she had them won over. Cassie had grown up with the whole castle to explore and hundreds of people to play with though her favourite much to Arthurs dismay was Merlin, he spoiled her rotten and would play with her whenever she wanted him too, the two of them were now as thick as thieves and she had a very cheeky little attitude to her now, but she had a way of getting around trouble, her big blue eyes could melt even the toughest heart melt and her smile made even the grumpiest and up tightest of men smile back, she had a charm and she knew how to use it.

She had slightly darkened skin which gave her a permanent gorgeous tanned look and, apart from her skin she was the only one of their three children that really looked like Arthur, she had long dirty blonde hair that fell in frizzy curls the same way her mother's did all the way down her back and she also had his eyes, the deepest blue, the blue of the ocean Gwen said.

Those sparkling eyes were wondering round gazing at things, they wondered round before they spotted his reflection in the mirror , her face split into a grin and she twisted in her chair "daddy" she exclaimed and leapt up out of her seat and ran towards him, he smiled and bent down to scoop her into his arms, "hello there my little princess" he said and she giggled hugging him tightly, he hugged her tightly back smiling happily at Gwen his was watching her family interact with a proud smile on her face.

He looked at her, as she grinned at him "is it your bed time young lady" "no" she said innocently "yes" Gwen said as she placed the brush on the dresser "aww" Cassie pouted unhappily "but I not tired" she tried, Arthur laughed "the quicker you go to sleep the faster morning will come" he pointed out, she thought about it before giving a long sigh that made her daddy smile and nodded, he carried her over to the bed and lay her down under the sheets, she snuggled up under them before looking up at him "daddy" she said "yes sweetheart" "tell me a story daddy"

Arthur paused and looked at her hopeful face, he glanced at Gwen who was watching him, she grinned and winked at him as though daring him to give it a try, she was the one who usually told the bedtime stories "what kind of story Cass Cass" he asked sitting on the edge of her bed using his special nickname for her that only he used and occasionally Gwen, she thought about it "a nice one about love" she said "one with a happy ending"

'uh oh' Arthur thought, he could probably do adventure stories, and stories about great heroes but he wasn't very good at making up soppy love stories 'but maybe he didn't need to make one up' he realised, he looked at Gwen and grinned before settling himself down and beginning:

"ok so once upon a time there was once a handsome prince who lived in a kingdom called err … Camelurin, which was a magnificent kingdom with strong walls and a strong leader who the people adored, anyway the prince was rather spoiled in his young age, he was very handsome and everybody loved him" he smiled to himself and saw Merlin frown a him" He was very strong and a very good fighter but was rather arrogant… "What does that mean" Cassie interrupted, she hated not knowing what words meant "um it means um…" "pig-headed" Merlin chimed in from where he was helping Gwen gather all the toys up off the floor, from the grin on his face he had already guessed what this story was about, "um yeah ok it means pig headed" Arthur said glaring at Merlin who grinned his cheeky grin at him whilst Cassie giggled "anyway so the pig headed prince spent his years training to be king and went on many battles which of course he won and soon his father passed away and he had to become king"

He looked down at his daughter cuddled against his chest watching him eagerly "now for a few years the prince had been in love with one of the serving girls in the castle, he thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, with lovely long dark hair which fell in soft curls down her back and beautiful sparkling brown eyes, that whenever he saw made his whole world light up", Cassie grinned happily, he could see her eyelids beginning to droop with tiredness so he pressed on, out of the corner of his eye he could see Gwen finished with her tidying leaning against a pillar a huge smile on her face, she too had realised what this story was about "now the serving girl loved the prince too and they wanted nothing more than to be together but unfortunately they couldn't" Cassie frowned "why not" she asked "because then, Princes were not meant to fall in love with and marry serving girls, they were meant to marry princesses, and once the prince became king, he knew he couldn't be with the girl, no matter how much he loved her his kingdom always had to come first"

Cassie frowned "this doesn't sound like a very happy story daddy" she said seriously and he smiled "don't worry it will be" he promised so she settled back down to listen

"ok so the king concentrated on ruling his kingdom, he fought many battles and won many wars but he was unhappy because he knew that he would have to have a child, an heir to his throne, but he didn't want to have a child with anyone except his one true love the serving girl, one day though he realised that he was not being the best king that he could be because he was unhappy and therefore not focused, so he went to his serving girl and presented her with some flowers and told her that he loved her and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, at first she was hesitant confused about him suddenly changing his mind and coming to her, then the king told her that he had never stopped loving her and knew that she was the one, he told her that he had come to realise that his people didn't need a king unhappily married to the right person, they needed a king who showed that he loved them all, and could love them all and was happy to be with one of them, they needed a happy king who was strong, he told the girl that she made him strong, she got rid of his pig-headedness "

He smiled at Gwen who was watching them with a happy content smile on her face, even Merlin was grinning at them from where he was leaning against the window.

"So the king declared his love for the serving girl, now the council and his advisors were not very happy about it and tried to make him bury his feelings for the girl, but he refused, saying that they were too strong and he couldn't and no matter what they thought of it, he was planning to marry her, now the people on the other hand were overjoyed when they heard, they felt that the king was really connecting with them, when the council and everybody else saw how happy the people were and how happy their king really was, they changed their minds and gave the king their blessings and honoured him. And so the king married the serving girl and she became Queen of err Camelurin, and everyone was happy, after a year of marriage during which the kingdom grew stronger and the kings power grew his queen gave her king the best news he had ever heard, that she was going to give him a child and not long after that she did, and gave him an heir"

He grinned at his daughter "what happens after that then Cass Cass" she grinned "and they all lived happily ever after" she recited "you got it" he said with a smile "the end" Cassie lay there for a minute before saying "that was good daddy" he grinned smugly "yeah I thought it was" she smiled and looked at her mother "the serving girl sounds like mummy" she noted "mmm" Arthur said grinning at his wife, she looked at her daddy "are you the arrogant prince" she asked, he smiled at her "yeah I am" he said, she was getting too clever for her own good, she had seen straight through his little changed story "yeah I am the arrogant prince who became your silly daddy" he tickled her stomach and she giggled wiggling happily "I love my silly daddy" she said and he smiled hugging her "and your silly daddy loves you very much Cass"

She yawned "I like love stories with a happy ending" she mumbled sleepily Arthur smiled at her "and do you know what the meaning behind the story is Cass" "no daddy" she responded sleepily, he smiled down at her expectant face before gently kissing her brow, then he gazed into her eyes and said softly

"Love conquers all"


End file.
